


Tamed Beast

by spectrals



Category: Devilman (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dom/sub, Dubious Consent, M/M, Master/Pet, Mind Control, No Sex, Non-Consensual Bondage, Non-Sexual Kink, Pet Play, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 02:26:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16610117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spectrals/pseuds/spectrals
Summary: The war is over, the demons won, and Akira is prepared to die after being defeated in battle.  Ryou, on the other hand, isn't ready to let him go, and there's a reason demons never show each other mercy.





	1. Chapter 1

Akira did not want to be awake. He had no idea what woke him up, and he was too tired to care.

Logically, he knew he should. It could have been Miki calling him down to breakfast, or a demon coming to kill him in his sleep, or something else that demanded his immediate attention. At the moment, it mattered less to him than getting to see the end of the dream he'd been having. Whatever it was, he was sure it could wait.

Except that, apparently, it couldn't, Akira begrudgingly accepted when something stopped him from turning over.

He reluctantly opened his eyes and found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. He tried to lift his head to look, but found that he couldn't do that, either. Tilting his head as far forward as he could, he finally saw the cause. He'd been strapped to an... operating table? Was that what this was? There were straps holding down his arms and torso, and he felt another on his neck. There were probably more on his legs, too, though he couldn't see them from this angle. He would have assumed he was still asleep, but he was in too much pain for this to be a dream. Before he could nudge his brain awake enough to try to figure out why he seemed to be in the middle of some sort of bad horror movie, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Akira," Ryou said.

His initial reaction was relief at hearing the voice of his friend, but he quickly realized that was wrong, wasn't it? This was Satan, and he should be angry, shouldn't he? His mind felt fuzzy, memories of his best friend and thoughts of the lord of demons were all mixed up in his head, and he couldn't tell what was what. But the one thing that got through clearly was the memory of himself dying, and the fact that he was still alive filled him with instinctive fear for reasons unknown to him. He couldn't make sense of any of it, so he gathered all the coherency he could to ask, " _Why?_ "

"I'm sorry," Ryou said. "For everything." An answer that somehow managed to clear up absolutely nothing. Ryou approached, close enough that Akira could see him now. His appearance was that of the human, which also did nothing to help his confusion. The look on his face was a pitying one, and that alone felt so out of character for him that now, Akira wasn't entirely sure that this was even Ryou in the first place.

"I never intended for it to be this way," Ryou said. "Back then, even when I had forgotten who I really was, I think some part of me turned you into a devilman hoping that, at the end, after you had witnessed humanity's sins, you would join me under your own free will." He laughed. "An impossible dream, I know that now."

Although he knew that whatever Ryou was saying must have been important, Akira's consciousness was slipping. He fought against it, but it took all of his focus and there was none left for listening to Ryou's words.

"I know this all must be confusing for you," Ryou continued. "I suppose I should have at least waited until after your legs reattached before attempting conversation. You probably can't understand a word I'm saying, so all of this may be for my own satisfaction rather than any real attempt at an apology."

Concentrating very hard, Akira was now able to make out individual words, but was still working on stringing them together to form a complete thought. One word, "legs," stood out to him, and a hazy memory resurfaced of his legs getting injured. But that couldn't have been right, since it was just about the only part of his body that _wasn't_ screaming in pain at the moment. The gears slowly turned, and he realized what that meant. He tried to move his legs, or at least feel the straps holding them in place, but there was nothing, they were gone, he couldn't feel _anything_ , he—

He suddenly felt Ryou's hands gripping his arms, calming the violent shaking that he hadn't realized he had been doing until that moment. Although everything already hurt before, the pain around the areas where the straps were had skyrocketed.

"If you move too much, your wound will reopen," Ryou said, looming over him. "If that happens, even I might not be able to bring you back again."

This time, through intense pain, Akira had become lucid enough to fully process all of it. Lucid enough to understand that Ryou had done this to him, that Ryou was responsible for the fact that Akira had failed to die, and that Akira had the opportunity to correct this if he thrashed hard enough.

"You really do have a death wish, don't you?" Ryou sighed in frustration, sounding almost disappointed with Akira as he continued to struggle. "You want to take your own life, even knowing that you owe that life to me? You're not allowed to destroy what's mine."

A chill ran down Akira's spine. That instinctive fear was still there at the back of his mind, as was an intense urge to do something about it. But even though he knew that he had to act now, that he might not get another chance if he didn't manage to die here, he found himself unable to will his body to move.

"Good," Ryou said, releasing his grip. "I know I have given you very little reason to trust me, and neither of us are happy about this situation, but know that I intend to take full responsibility. For now, all you need to do is rest."

To his horror, Akira was all too ready to believe that Ryou was telling the truth and trust that he had Akira's back, just like before, when neither of them knew anything. That is, until he realized how insane that was and snapped himself out of it. It was pathetic, how much he wanted his best friend back, but there was no going back to those days.

"Akira," Ryou ordered, "sleep."

He tried to stay awake out of pure spite, but couldn't. All of his exhaustion came back to him at once, and he was dragged back to sleep against his will.


	2. Chapter 2

Akira awoke alone in a room devoid of any distinguishing details or decoration. All he could see was a window that he could only see sky out of, a door that was out of his reach, and a bed that he wasn't in. There were also some shackles chained to the wall, which he _was_  in. He was sitting on the floor and everything still hurt and his clothes were covered in his own dried blood.

He tested the strength of the shackles, but his wrists were too sore from before. If he put any more strength into it, it would only hurt himself. Besides, Ryou picked them out, which meant that there was probably no chance of even putting a dent in them.

The good news, if there even was any, was that he could see his legs in front of him, attached to his body and everything. He could even move them a little bit, although even wiggling his toes hurt like hell. He wasn't sure whether he should be happy about this or not. He didn't trust it, if only because he knew Ryou was responsible for it.

Nothing Ryou did was making any sense anymore. When Akira started that war, he was sure it would end in one of them being killed by the other, and he was prepared for the possibility that it would be him. He never expected this. Sure, Ryou was insistent about the fact that he belonged on the demons' side, but he assumed Ryou would have gotten the hint by now. What could he possibly gain by keeping Akira alive at this point? It was true that he was the leader of the devilmen, but the survivors scattered after losing the war, so he couldn't give anyone any sort of tactical advantage. That was what they had planned, at least, it wasn't like he could get any updates. And he already made it perfectly clear that he'd sooner stab Ryou's eye out than stand by his side, so why would Ryou expect anything from him now? It wasn't like him to do something without a good reason, but Akira couldn't figure out what that could possibly be. Whatever it was, though, it worried him.

He didn't have a very clear memory of when he had briefly regained consciousness while Ryou was healing him, but he remembered the fear that he felt so deeply that it could only have come from his demon side, the part of Amon that still remained after Akira had taken over. He felt the same thing when he thought that Silene was hesitating to kill him, unaware that she was already dead. It had mostly subsided now, but it had been replaced by the unsettling feeling that whatever was going to happen to him now had to be something that demons considered to be worse than death.

The worst part about all this was that he had absolutely nothing to do but sit there thinking and worrying about all this. The chain was so short that even standing up was impossible, though it wasn't like it was a good idea to move around with his injuries anyway. And there wasn't much to look at in this near-empty room besides staring at the window and hoping that a bird or a demon would fly by to keep him from going insane from boredom.

Hours passed, and there were a lot more terrible things to keep his mind occupied with thinking about. His loved ones that he had failed to avenge, all the good devilmen that didn't make it through the war, the fate that awaited him and the world. A barrage of self-hatred so intense that he had to make an active effort to put a stop to it. He had to find _something_  to keep himself busy with besides his own thoughts.

Eventually, Akira was in the middle of counting the number of scars on his chest when Ryou opened the door. He couldn't get his t-shirt off with the shackles on, so it was rolled up to his chin. Ryou silently stared.

"Uh. This isn't what it looks like," said Akira, who had no idea what it looked like, except that it definitely looked ridiculous and it probably was the worst possible time Ryou could have walked in on him.

Ryou burst out laughing.

"What the hell!" Akira said, rolling his shirt back down in an effort to retain some dignity. "It's not like you gave me anything else to do in this shitty place, asshole!"

"No, that's not it," Ryou said once he got his laughter under control. "I was just thinking that this is the most normal interaction we've had in so long. I'd say 'never change,' but I'm afraid that might be a difficult promise to keep."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Akira demanded. "How could I possibly change any more than I already have?"

"You should already know on some level," Ryou said, unhelpfully. "The demon part of you, that is."

"It's because you beat me in a fight, but kept me from dying," Akira said. "I've only figured out that much."

"That's right," Ryou said. "A demon would rather beg for death than be shown mercy by their opponent. That's because they owe their life to the one who spared them, very literally."

Akira suddenly remembered what Ryou had said before, _"You're not allowed to destroy what's mine."_  He felt sick to his stomach.

" _What the fuck?!_ " he yelled. "That is _fucked up_ , what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I've made mistake after mistake with you," Ryou said, a pained expression on his face. "After I dealt the finishing blow, I regretted it. After I decided to save you, I regretted it. If I'll regret either way, I might as well choose the path where you live. You may disagree with me, but I still believe the world is better off with you in it."

"If you're still worried about that, don't bother," Akira said. "I'm not gonna try anything anymore."

Ryou didn't look the least bit relieved. In fact, he looked even less happy than before. "I know," he said.

"But that still doesn't mean I'm the least bit grateful to you for saving my life, and I sure as hell don't think I owe you anything," Akira continued. "Do you really think I'm just going to stay here and happily be _owned_  like some sort of _pet_?"

"Not happily, no," Ryou replied, "but it's already happened, whether we like it or not."

"What the hell is _that_  supposed to mean?" Akira asked. He was almost afraid to hear the answer.

"We should really move on, there are other important things we have to discuss," Ryou said.

Now Akira _needed_  to hear the answer, because it was either something Ryou didn't want him to know, something big enough to actually make him uncomfortable talking about it, or possibly both.

"It can wait," he said. "Tell me."

"No, it can't," Ryou said. "It's about your legs."

"What about them?" Akira asked. He knew it was a distraction, but Ryou knew what would get his attention. "They went right back on just like my arm did, right?"

"The process was similar, but remember, you were already near death. It was nowhere near as simple," Ryou said. "And I _did_  advise you not to move."

"What happened to them?" Akira asked uneasily. He had a bad feeling about where this was going. Well, technically speaking, he'd had a bad feeling since Ryou had first walked into the room, and it had been growing with every word that came out of his mouth.

"You shouldn't try to use them yet, you aren't fully healed. But even when you are, they won't be the same as before," Ryou explained. "There was some nerve damage. You should be able to walk, but in all likelihood, running will be impossible."

That wasn't as bad as he expected, but it still wasn't good. If he couldn't run, he couldn't run _away_. And on top of that, it also meant that he probably wouldn't be winning any fights anytime soon. His chances of escape just got even worse.

The chain lengthened by several feet, entirely on its own.  Did Ryou do that? He _must_ have.  If he could fight well enough to dismember while not even moving a muscle, it seemed reasonable that he could move a chain with his mind too.

"Now that there's no risk of you attempting to stand up and doing more damage, there's no need for you to be on such a short leash," Ryou said. Akira wasn't sure if the "leash" part was supposed to be some sort of joke at his expense. He certainly didn't find it funny. "Do you need me to help you move?" He approached Akira and offered a hand.

"Don't touch me!" Akira snapped, slapping his hand away. "I can do it myself."

Akira shapeshifted himself some wings, destroying his blood-covered shirt in the process, and flew onto the bed. At least he still had that. He couldn't fly as fast as he could run, and it wasn't as easy to maneuver indoors, but it was definitely better than nothing.

"That reminds me," Ryou said. He stepped outside for a moment and came back with a bag, which he tossed in Akira's direction. It turned out to have clothes in it. "It took me a bit to find some that were intact and in your size."

"I would like to change, but..." Akira trailed off, gesturing at his wrists.

The chain detached itself from the cuffs.  Akira didn't expect it to be that easy.  He put on a random shirt, then started to unbutton his pants and hesitated.

"So, what, you're just gonna stand there and watch like a creep?" Akira asked.

"Akira," Ryou sighed, "I've brought you dozens of emergency changes of clothes after you shredded them in your demon form, remember? It's nothing I haven't seen before."

Akira glared.

"Fine, fine, if you insist," Ryou said, turning his back to Akira.

Akira stared at Ryou's back as he changed. He was free and Ryou was wide open. He'd either get extremely lucky and manage to kill Ryou, or he'd get a second chance to die in battle. His hands morphed into claws. This was his chance.

"You won't hurt me," Ryou said, somehow _knowing_  without even turning around.

As soon as he said it, Akira knew that it was true, as if he had spoken it into existence. He couldn't hurt Ryou. But _how_? Was he really that sentimental over his "friend" who had gotten everyone he cared about killed? He couldn't even understand himself. His hands turned back to human ones, and he curled them into fists, humiliated at his own powerlessness.

The chain, which had been lying on the bed, sprang to life and reattached themselves to the cuffs.  Ryou left the room without so much as a glance in Akira's direction and closed the door behind him, once again leaving Akira with nothing but his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I write this, the more I have no idea if this takes place in the manga or Crybaby verse, or maybe some weird combination of both. Oh well. Whichever one you think it is, that's the one it is.


	3. Chapter 3

For some reason, Ryou had apparently decided to show his affection by giving Akira a shit ton of stuff. First it was mostly food, then a bunch of mostly-intact books. Before he knew it, Akira was helping Ryou fit an entire sofa through the door. One time he'd woken up and there was a new door in his room that led to an actual working bathroom. It was a huge relief to not have to yell for Ryou or piss out the window, though it was a total fucking mystery how in the hell he managed the running water part.

But every time Ryou came by to give him some random junk or whatever, he always lingered for an uncomfortable period of time. Yet again, they were doing their usual routine of Ryou sitting on the couch doing nothing in particular while Akira was laying on the bed with a book and pretending not to notice Ryou staring at him, and he decided he'd had enough. He closed the book, got up, and looked at Ryou, who would no doubt "coincidentally" choose this exact moment to leave. Akira spoke up before he even got the chance to leave his seat.

"Ryou, what do you actually fucking want from me?" Akira asked.

"I'm... sorry?" Ryou said hesitantly.

"You clearly want something out of these visits," Akira said, "and it's pissing me off how you keep leaving without even saying two words to me."

"You... want me to talk to you?" Ryou asked in disbelief.

"Look, you're a complete bastard and a total fucking monster," Akira said, "but you're literally the only person that I am physically able to have a conversation with, and that's your fault. Do you think you're doing me a favor by giving me the silent treatment?"

Ryou stared blankly. Akira had no idea what the hell his problem was, but he wished he'd just get over it already, this was getting ridiculous.

"Besides, there's been questions that I've wanted to ask since day one, but you run away if I even make eye contact," Akira continued in an attempt to break the silence.

"Oh," Ryou said, visibly relieved, "yes, I imagine you would have questions."

"Okay, first of all," Akira began. "That thing you said about how I'm your pet now whether we like it or not? What in the _fuck_  did you mean by that."

"It's best that I not answer that," Ryou said. "Really, I shouldn't have even said that in the first place."

"Bullshit," Akira said. "Tell me."

"Next question, please," Ryou said. Akira groaned.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Then, what's up with this shit?" He gestured toward his wrist, jingling the chain around for emphasis.

"This world belongs to demons now," Ryou said. "Many of them are still hunting devilmen for sport, you know, and most of them would kill you without hesitation if you came across them by chance. If I let you out of here, I'd be letting you die."

"So _let me!_ " Akira snapped. He approached Ryou, standing so close that Ryou had to crane his neck up to look at him. "Let me go out and get myself killed. I never asked you to do any of this anyway!"

"As I told you before," Ryou said calmly, "I believe the world is better off with you living in it."

Akira grabbed Ryou by the collar and lifted him up to eye level.

"And what the hell kind of life is this?!" Akira shouted. "Every possible reason I could have had to keep on living is gone because of you. I never wanted this life, _you_  wanted this. So now, I am asking you to _tell me what you want from me_."

"...Let go," Ryou said.

Akira let go.

"Sit down," Ryou said.

Akira sat down.

"What's going on?" he asked, his whole body shaking. All of his instincts were telling him to run, but that was impossible in more ways than one.

"Shut up," Ryou said, scowling. "I should have known this would happen eventually. They all said it would, but I tried anyway. What was I even expecting?"

Akira tried to yell at him, demand an explanation, but no matter how much he screamed, no sound would come out.

"I tried my hardest to give you even an echo of free will and a normal life, but you don't want either of those things, do you? Well, if that's what you really want, so be it. I'll tell you exactly what I want from you, and you'll give it to me. Are you happy now?"

He shook his head, waved his arms around, did anything he could to convey _no, wait, that's not what I meant_ , but Ryou was barely even looking at him.

"I'm done denying myself my desires in order to deny you yours. So, from now on, my desires will be yours as well. My first one is this: You do not want to die and want to stay here with me. Understood?"

Resisting that order was like battling his own mind. Well, the joke was on Ryou, because Akira has been doing nothing but fight his own mind this entire time. He'd had practice. Granted, this wasn't exactly an intrusive thought. Even as he tried to keep hold of his own thoughts, his own desires, his own _self_ , he could feel all of it slowly being taken over and replaced. His hands, gripping at the couch as he strained with effort, turned into claws and started tearing up the cushions.

"You're resisting," Ryou noticed. "I'm almost impressed, but that is unacceptable."

The chains dragged Akira across the room and pinned him to the wall.

" _You do not want to die and want to stay here with me._  Resisting will only make this harder on you."

The attack on his mind grew twice as powerful. This was a losing battle and he knew it, but he wasn't about to go down without a fight.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there like that. Probably minutes, but it felt like hours. By the end of it, he had come to terms with the fact that escape from this place, from this life, was impossible. That it was his fate to remain at Ryou's side. That this was what he deserved. He unclenched his fists and realized that his fingernails had been digging into his palms so hard that they had drawn blood.

The manacles around Akira’s wrists began to move.  He winced, expected Ryou to use his telekinesis to cause more pain,  but instead, the cuffs came off completely.

"Congratulations. What will you do with your freedom, now that you have it?" Ryou asked.

Akira couldn't answer.

"Sorry, my mistake," Ryou said. "You may speak now."

"Nothing," Akira said with resignation. "As long as you're here, I have no freedom."

"Hm. More pessimistic than I had hoped for," Ryou noted, "but I suppose I can't control how your mind interprets that kind of command."

"Ryou," Akira said, looking up at him. "Why are you doing this?"

"...Because I love you, Akira," he said. "You've had a rough day. We'll talk more in the morning. Sleep."

It was only afternoon, but that didn't matter. He'd been exhausted before, but now, he didn't even have enough energy to make it to the bed. His body went limp, his head fell to the floor, and sleep overtook him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates may be slower from here on out.


	4. Chapter 4

When Akira woke up, he didn't feel well rested at all. He felt like he had fought the universe and lost. He opened his eyes and found Ryou sitting at the foot of his bed, waiting for him.

"Good morning," Ryou said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Akira said eloquently.

He sat up and noticed an unfamiliar weight on his neck. He reached for it, and found what felt like one of those spiked dog collars. He felt around the back for a way to take it off.

"I would rather you not remove that without my permission," Ryou said. "Technically, it's not exactly traditional, since demons never had any concept of domesticated animals, but I think it suits you."

"Right," Akira said, lowering his arms. "Because I'm your dog now."

"Do you not like it?" Ryou asked.

"Of course I don't like it, but this is my punishment," Akira said.

"Punishment?" Ryou repeated, eyebrows raised. "Does that mean you'd rather not be here with me?"

Clearly, he was worried that his orders from yesterday didn't take. His concerns were unnecessary. Thanks to him, Akira had accepted reality.

"No," he said. "It's a punishment, but it's one I deserve, and you're the only one who can give that to me. There's nowhere I'd rather be."

"What I did yesterday... I hurt you, didn't I?" Ryou said. He said it like it was meant as an apology, but Akira doubted he was sorry at all.

"I wasn't actually that far off from how I am now. It was just easier to hide it when you were around. Easier to be mad at you than myself," Akira admitted. "Ryou, did you mean it? When you said you loved me?"

"Of course I meant it," Ryou said. "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"I don't know," Akira said. "I just don't know if I can handle the whole... love... thing." Partly because he didn't think he could ever love Ryou back, but mostly because he didn't really understand how he could be loved at all.

"I love you, Akira, now more than ever," Ryou said. He leaned toward Akira, and for a moment, Akira was worried he was going to hug him, but all Ryou did was fiddle with his collar. When he pulled away, there was a chain connected to it, and the other end was in Ryou's hand. "I loved you most when you were weak, but I had to make you strong so you'd survive. And now, I've made you weak again, and you're asking me to punish you and make you weaker."

He pulled the chain so hard that Akira fell off the bed, catching himself with his arms before he hit the ground. Ryou put his foot on Akira's back and tugged the chain, which accomplished nothing but causing Akira more pain. Putting up a fight would have been useless. He couldn't even find it in him to keep his head up.

"Don't worry, I think this is going to work out wonderfully for both of us," Ryou said.

Akira changed his mind. Ryou's love might have been the only kind of love that he truly deserved.

"Now that you're officially my pet, would you call me 'Master' if I asked you to?" Ryou asked.

"What does it matter?" Akira asked. "You're just going to order me to do it, anyway."

"You know, Akira," Ryou said, "this may be difficult for you to believe, especially with how I acted yesterday, but I really would prefer not to have to do that. Every time I bend you to my will, you'll come out slightly different, and you've already changed so much because of me that I'd like to preserve as much of the original Akira as I can."

"In that case, the answer's no," Akira said.

Akira's arms were shaking as Ryou increased the force on his back. The collar squeezed his neck to the point that he had trouble breathing for a moment.

"And why is that?" Ryou questioned. "Are you rejecting the 'punishment' that you claimed you would subject yourself to?"

"You can force me to my knees all you want, I won't complain or fight back, but that doesn't mean I'd crawl under your foot just because you asked me to. I know that I can't stop you from doing whatever you want with me, but I still won't _help_  you do it," Akira said. "Besides, did it ever occur to you that I might _want_  to change? I already hate myself so much that whatever you turn me into can only be an improvement."

"I wonder if you really understand what you're asking for. Maybe I should show you," Ryou said. "Earlier, you called yourself my dog. Until I take this collar off you, you will see yourself as a dog, and you won't remember ever having been anything else. I'm curious to see how your feelings will change after this."

Just like before, Akira could feel Ryou's words echoing through his mind. He looked down at his hands, surprised to find that he really did see only paws. He picked one up off the ground and turned it around, but no matter how he looked at it, it was about as real as anything else. And then, as he stared at it harder, he could feel the memory of his human hand fading away, and it was getting more and more difficult to remember why he thought it was strange to have a dog's paw in the first place.

This was nothing like what he'd expected. Ryou's commands couldn't have _actually_  turned him into a dog, could they? This was all in his head, right? He was starting to hyperventilate. Or, wait, was he _panting_?!

He tried to tell Ryou to stop, that he'd changed his mind, but barks were all that came out of his mouth. Ryou said something in response, but even though Akira heard the sounds perfectly, they didn't sound like words to him anymore. This was bad. This was wrong. He was running out of time. He had to do something. He had to...

What was the problem, again? Something wasn't the way it was supposed to be. He looked around and saw his room, exactly the way it was before, and his paws, looking just as they always had. And there was his master, Ryou, with his foot on Akira's back. Ryou had just given him orders, but... what were they, again? That was what was wrong. His master had given him a direct order, and he'd disobeyed. Now he was being punished for it, because he was a bad dog who couldn't do anything right. Akira whimpered.

Ryou removed his foot and loosened the leash. Had his punishment ended already? It wasn't enough. His master was too forgiving.

Ryou lifted his foot up again, as if asking him to continue. It was like he could tell exactly what Akira was thinking. He obeyed and walked back underneath Ryou's foot.  It lowered, the heel of his boot digging into Akira's back. His master stroked his head, rewarding him for making the correct choice. He didn't deserve it. Rewards were for good dogs.

Akira tried to hold the position, but his master was strong and his legs struggled to keep up. Despite his efforts, he couldn't stop Ryou's foot from forcing him to the ground. In the end, he couldn't even take a punishment right.

Ryou crouched down in front of him, forcing him to face his master, who he had disappointed. Ryou lovingly running his fingers through Akira's hair only made him feel worse about himself. Ryou reached for Akira's collar and removed it.

His memories came flooding back. He stumbled in an attempt to stand back up on two paws. No, _feet_ , they were _feet_ , not paws. He stood with his legs shaking from the effort and from fear.

"Have you learned your lesson?" Ryou asked.

"Yes, Master," Akira said, not meeting Ryou's eyes.

"Good," Ryou said, grinning wider.

"Master? You, uh, you said that you wouldn't- that you didn't want to give me orders, right?" Akira said. "You're not going to, um, do- do that again, are you?"

"I wonder," Ryou said, examining the dog collar. "Making them temporary seemed to work very well. You returned to your previous state afterwards, and this collar gave me the perfect mechanism for it. This may be the solution to my dilemma."

This was both the worst possible turn of events and almost exactly the outcome he'd been hoping for when he challenged Ryou's authority. He was trapped in a nightmare of his own making.

"Would you rather I stay or leave?" Ryou asked. Akira must have been even worse at keeping it together than he thought he was if Ryou was _concerned_  about him.

"Stay!" Akira blurted out far too quickly. "Please stay. Don't go yet."

Ryou's presence brought nothing good, but his brain was a mess and he wasn't ready to be alone again. Now that his entire being belonged to Ryou, he wasn't sure he'd know what to do with himself without him around. He wasn't even sure what to do with himself _now_. What he really wanted to do was stop being conscious, but it was only morning, so he wouldn't have much luck trying to get back to sleep.

Ryou sat down and patted the cushion next to him, inviting Akira to sit there. The mere fact that Ryou seemed to want it meant that Akira didn't want to, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to refuse.

He spent a solid minute staring into space, paralyzed with indecision. Ryou sighed, got up, and dragged Akira to the couch by his arm. He follow him, accepting that Ryou had made the decision for him. He sat down, bringing his knees up to his chest and putting his arms around them.

Ryou was petting him as if he was still a dog. Akira wished he'd stop, but made no attempt to voice his thoughts. It wasn't his place to tell Ryou what he could and couldn't do. This was more about what Ryou wanted than what he thought Akira wanted and they both knew it. It still felt wrong. This was his punishment for failing to kill the one responsible for the extinction of humanity. It wasn't supposed to make him feel _better_.


	5. Chapter 5

The next time Ryou came by, Akira was sure that it would be to hurt him.  Instead, Ryou started cuddling him again.

Ryou’s touch was gentle, so gentle that it would hardly take any effort at all to escape from his embrace, and it was a constant battle of willpower to keep himself from doing so.  It was a terrible idea and he knew it. Ryou would would be _pissed_.  The consequences wouldn’t be pleasant, whatever they were.

He did it anyway.

Akira didn’t make it very far before Ryou’s gentle touch turned into an iron grip that locked him in place.

“What are you doing?” Ryou asked.

“Uh…” Akira said, failing to think of an excuse.

“Are you being bad?” Ryou asked.  Surprisingly, he didn’t sound particularly angry.  If anything, Akira would bet that Ryou was all too eager to take the opportunity to punish him.

He was internally debating whether to suck up to Ryou or just come clean when Ryou interrupted his train of thought by violently shoving him off the couch.

“Bad dogs don’t get to sit on the furniture,” Ryou said.  Before Akira could push himself to his feet, Ryou planted his feet on Akira’s back so roughly that it was almost a kick.  “And they aren’t allowed to stand.”

“I-” Akira started.

“Bad dogs don’t get to talk, either,” Ryou interrupted.  “Do you want to be a good dog?”

Akira nodded, knowing that it was the correct answer.

“If you did, then you wouldn’t have pulled away from me,” he said.  “So, now, you get to be my footstool instead.”

Out of nowhere, Ryou kicked him, knocking him over onto his side.  Akira lifted his head and looked at Ryou in confusion, but he said nothing, only holding his legs out in front of him expectantly.  Getting the hint, Akira pushed himself up and crawled back under Ryou’s feet.

Ryou kicked him again.

Akira spent the next week or so adding to his collection of bruises.  The rough treatment was probably supposed to convince Akira to stop misbehaving, but in reality, it was an easy way to get Ryou to stop treating him like he was a spoiled pet, or his boyfriend, or whatever the hell this messed-up relationship was supposed to be, so he kept on doing it while Ryou slowly lost his patience.

“Are you doing this on purpose?  Is there a problem that you aren’t telling me about?” Ryou demanded.  “If you can’t learn to behave, you’ll get a _real_ punishment.”

“I-I was…” Akira said.

“Whatever it is, you might as well just spit it out,” Ryou said.  “I can’t promise that I won’t be upset with you, but we’ll never be able to move past this if you can’t be honest with me.”

“Well, I just… I don’t understand why you keep doing this,” Akira said.  “I can’t stand it.”

He couldn’t stand it because it went against everything he had come to expect from Ryou.  Because the idea of accepting any sort of kindness from him just felt _wrong_.  And, most of all, because he was so pathetically lonely that he found himself forgetting that he hated Ryou, that Ryou wasn’t his best friend anymore.

“Do you hate me that much?” Ryou said, his tightening grip in Akira’s hair showing more of his true emotions than the carefully controlled calmness in his voice.  Akira said nothing. “This _is_ a problem, though it should be simple enough to work around.  If you really want me to stop being nice, you’ll get your wish.”

Ryou used his powers to float something into the room.  They looked like coils of white rope. Except, actually, one of them wasn’t a rope at all.  If anything, it was shaped more like a mask.

“I was planning on saving these for a special occasion,” Ryou said, “but I suppose this one will have to do.”

Too fast for Akira to react, the ropes wrapped themselves around his limbs and pulled at them, positioning them as if he was a doll to be posed.  His legs were dragged upward, tied folded against his chest, and his arms were wrapped around his legs and secured there. Pulling at the ropes in a knee-jerk panic, he lost his balance and fell sideways, landing head-first in Ryou’s lap.

“What the fuck- ngh- what is this even-”

Akira’s complaints were cut short when the white mask covered the bottom half of his face.  It clamped his jaw shut, not stretching enough to allow him to open his mouth even the tiniest crack.  Was this… was this a _muzzle_?

“There, that’s much better, isn’t it?” Ryou said.  “I think it suits you.”

Akira could only let out a muffled growl in response as he fought uselessly against the ropes.

“Struggling won’t get you anywhere.  They’re made of spider silk from a pretty powerful demon.  I’d be surprised if you had even half the strength necessary to break through them.”

That didn’t stop him from trying.  He kept on tugging at them while Ryou pet his head and kept up a one-sided conversation with him that he was barely listening to.

“I love how long your hair is getting.  I never could convince you to grow it out.  Hah, do you remember the time when…”

Eventually, his efforts drained him of all his energy and he was left limp in Ryou’s lap.  He was exhausted, his muscles ached, the arm beneath him had fallen asleep… But, as much as he hated to admit it, Ryou was right.  This _was_ better.

“See, I told you you wouldn’t be able to escape,” Ryou said, breaking the silence and startling Akira, who hadn’t even noticed that Ryou hadn’t said anything in a while.  “But don’t worry, I’ll untie you. _After_ we’re done enjoying each other’s company.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. That took longer than I thought it would. I hate writer's block. I wrote like a dozen different versions of this chapter.
> 
> Returning readers may have noticed that this is the first chapter where Ryou is shown to use his powers. That's because it took forever for me to find clear references on what the heck his powers even are. Previous chapters have been edited to replace the magitech stuff with his telekinesis because honestly I was kind of iffy about that anyway. You don't have to go and reread it. All the same stuff happens, all that changed is the explanation behind it.


End file.
